Letter to the Editor: a Prank or a Serious Situation?

By JAN CLOWARDPrice

Editor:

On Easter I witnessed an act that terrified me. I've never seen anything like it, other than in horror movies and sadly, I was told it was just a prank.

It happened just after I got off work at 11 p.m. on south Main Street in Price. As I was leaving I saw a young man run across a parking lot with no clothes on but his boxer shorts with his hands tied in front of him. There were two other young men chasing him. As I pulled onto Main Street and followed to see what was up the two tackled him to the ground in another parking lot. I stopped my car and hollered at themto leave him alone, but I wasn't fast enough. A newer red car pulled into the drive and these other guys picked up the naked kid by his arms and legs and threw him into the trunk. Meanwhile there was a group of kids stopped in the parking lot across the street and they were yelling something, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. Whether they were involved in the incident I don't know.

I drove around the block and as I pulled around behind the convenience store where I work to use the phone, I saw an older Bronco sitting in the parking lot and I was pretty sure they had seen it too, so I asked them about it. They told me it was just a prank, but I told them that no one should put anything that is alive in the trunk of a car. I told them I was calling the police.

About 2 a.m. I called police dispatch to see if anything had been found out and the dispatcher told me that when officers investigated they were told it was a prank. I wonder if they heard this and stopped looking?

So many questions went through my mind. Could I have done something more? Was it just a prank or is there a young man laying dead somewhere? And why were they picking on this person? Was he a volunteer or a victim?

Perhaps being a person who was picked on as a kid this has upset me more than it would others. Perhaps having helped put two people in prison because they thought my 14 year old son was easy prey for their gang initiation causes me to see things differently.

It may have been a prank to some, but to me it took some real soul searching to conclude this. By the time I had called the police and drove home I was so shook up I cried and could do nothing but relive the scene over and over again in my mind. That lasted all night and the next day as well.

Personally, I would like to know if it was just a joke. Afterwards I prayed that the young man didn't get hurt. In addition I would like a written apology from those involved, because what you did hurt me.